


Before We Turn Out The Lights And Close Our Eyes

by TsukkiNoNeko



Category: Haikyuu!!, 鬼滅の刃 | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Anime)
Genre: (I tried to tag this oh well), (how do I tag this), (i cannot stress that enough), (just a lil bit), Angst, BokuAka Week 2020, Character Death, Crossover, Demon Slayer! Akaashi, Demon Slayer! Bokuto, M/M, Pining, Sad Ending, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:28:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25809619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsukkiNoNeko/pseuds/TsukkiNoNeko
Summary: Akaashi joined the Demon Slayer Corps to slay the oni but he was not expecting to fall for someone.Or,I suck at tagging and summaries.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Kudos: 24
Collections: Creative Chaos Discord Recs





	Before We Turn Out The Lights And Close Our Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> This is the only thing I can offer for the BokuAka week, aka day 10, free day!
> 
> ~~I also whipped this up in three days, I'm sorry.~~

Akaashi Keiji is a part of the Demon Slayer Corps; he joined because he lost his parents to an oni attack. He grew up with a strong resentment for the oni, which served as a fuel for his desire to become _stronger_.

And that’s how he came across someone named _Bokuto Koutarou_.

The other man was a couple of years older than he, and he was always so full of energy. Always the first one to say ‘hello’ whenever they passed each other.

In the beginning, Keiji thought his initial attraction to the loud man was because of _admiration_ , and oh, how silly he was to believe that. Because it was totally _admiration_ that made him think about Bokuto-san’s lips whenever he went to bed at night. Or how he thought about how thick Bokuto-san’s biceps were…

He thought of these thoughts as wild dreams he could never see become true. Unobtainable things like the stars.

  
  


Then comes the day he got grouped together with Bokuto-san for a mission.

“You’re Akaashi Keiji, right?” Bokuto-san grins at him.

“Yes,” Keiji acts formal since the other man was a few ranks higher than him. “I believe we have a third member?”

The third member is a man named Aoi, someone Keiji has never crossed paths with before. Nonetheless, they’re given the location where these oni attacks are frequent.

On the way there, Keiji learns that Aoi-kun was also attacked by oni as a child, orphaned at the tender age of eight. Keiji tries his best to talk a lot within their group, but socialising has never been a thing for him.

  
  


Three days later, they arrive at the riverbed where they are sent off to. 

“Huh, doesn’t look so—”

“Watch out, Bokuto-san!”

Keiji feels like he was a bit too late when something that is akin to a tentacle shoots out from the water and tries to wrap itself around Bokuto-san. He unsheathes his blade and tries to cut at the tentacle using the fifth form, but it unwraps itself from Bokuto-san before the cut can be made.

“I think it’s safe to say we’re dealing with an aquatic oni,” Aoi-kun, who also has his blade unsheathed, comments.

“Yeah, I’ll say,” Keiji grouses as he readies himself.

“Unless we’re dealing with one of the Upper or Lower Moons, I say we can kick this oni’s ass,” Bokuto-san sounds so cheerful, contradicting their dreadful situation.

“Bokuto-san—”

Another tentacle whips out from the water, aiming straight for Keiji this time, and the Slayer manages to use the third form against it, just as it retreats right after its assault. Keiji leaps back just to be safe, but he isn’t so sure how long the range of these tentacles is.

“Bokuto-san!” Keiji yells. “Do you think—”

This time, two tentacles come for him as though to wrap themselves around Keiji’s torso and keep him from using his sword. He gasps, trying to jump away instinctively, but he knows that he can’t make it in time.

“‘Kaashi!” 

Keiji blinks as the tentacles that were trying to close in on him get sliced into bits, and he sees that his groupmate used his choice of Breathing Technique.

Keiji himself uses the Breath of Water, but he didn’t know that Bokuto-san used that of Stone until now.

“Well, fuck,” Aoi-kun sounds like he’s wide alert. “I thought we were all oni food for good.”

“You guys can thank me later—”

Before Bokuto-san could finish that sentence, the oni finally decides to rear its ugly head out of the water. It’s still humane, if Keiji were to ignore the gills sprouting from where the ears would be on a human, and the blood-red coloured eyes.

Not to mention the oni’s bottom half of the body were composed of ten tentacles.

(Keiji thinks he’s going to have a nightmare after this, because _yikes_.)

“Do we… do we have to cut all the tentacles to kill it or will a strong strike in its head be suffice?” Aoi-kun asks the question that formed in Keiji’s own head.

“I think… given the fact that its tentacles haven’t regenerated—look—we can go for its head,” Bokuto-san deduces, letting out a small yelp when two tentacles sweep under their feet. “Which seems easier said than done…”

“How do we get past its tentacles?” Keiji yells as he tries to use the fourth form.

“Don’t ask me!” Bokuto-san tries to leap up, away from the tentacles as the oni tries to knock them off-balance once more.

The ‘easiest’ route Akaashi can think of is jumping on top of one of those tentacles and getting closer to the main body. Of course, that requires him to stay in balance as he runs towards the head, and that seems very unlikely.

The other option, he thinks, is to cut up all the tentacles until there’s only the main body left, and then go for the killing blow, but he finds himself thinking that’s just as hard as the ‘running on the tentacles’ thing since this oni seems to be a harder task than he originally thought.

“Bokuto-san, watch out!” Keiji notices a tentacle trying to wrap itself around the older man and lunges towards them, going for the first form.

This time, he manages to slice nicely through the tentacle, as though having taken the oni by surprise.

“Okay, new plan: we cut its tentacles off one by one?” Aoi-kun, a Breath of Insect user last time he checked, readies himself.

  
  


Keiji doesn’t know how long it’s been, but by the time they’ve cut off to the point of only two tentacles being left, the sun’s starting to rise again. He doesn’t want to risk the chance of the oni healing over the day, but what can they—

“Take this!”

Keiji cannot believe the simple-mindedness of Bokuto-san.

He figures that the other Slayer must have realised the same thing, but he seems to rely more on his gut feelings than intuition, launching himself at the oni, and aiming for the head like this.

Lucky for the silver-haired man, his plan works, and he decapitates the oni just as the Sun shows above the horizons.

  
  


“That was awfully reckless of you.” Keiji scolds his groupmate. 

“Well,” Bokuto-san cups the back of his head, as though embarrassed. “Guess I was trying to impress someone.”

“Do you have someone to impress?” Keiji _knows_ he shouldn’t be asking this kind of thing, but his little crush on the other man got the best of him.

“I guess I kind of do…? They probably don’t know I’ve…” Bokuto-san trails off. “That’s not important. We should probably wait for the next mission…”

///

Surprisingly, Keiji’s next mission is also one where he gets paired up with Bokuto-san. He tries not to blush when Bokuto-san greets him with a smile.

“Long time no see!” Bokuto-san bellows.

“… it’s only been a week since the last mission together…” Keiji replies shyly. “Have you been resting well?”

“Yeah! They told me I dislocated my shoulder during my last battle but it’s good now!” Bokuto-san grins wider.

“That was something serious! Why didn’t you—”

_He has no business of telling me anything!_ Keiji feels all the heat in his body gathering in his cheeks when he realises what he was about to say.

“I didn’t want to worry you guys!” Thankfully, Bokuto-san doesn’t realise what Keiji _actually_ meant _._ “Guess I put up quite an act if you didn’t notice I—”

“We would have hurried or something if I-we knew that you were injured!” he yells at the other man.

“Hey, I’m all good now, so why fret?”

Keiji’s blush gets worse when Bokuto-san’s hands cup his face, those large hands easily covering his cheeks.

“Bokuto-san?”

_Am I imagining it?_ he asks himself before trying to lean in, before two other people in their group join them to set off.

///

Their mission was a success, but Keiji is now left confused.

Being his stupid, careless self, Keiji once more was left wide open when Bokuto-san hurled himself to protect him. The oni was dead, once again, thanks to Bokuto-san, and Keiji knows.

He knows better than to think Bokuto-san jumped in front of him because he returned the feelings.

He knows that the other Slayer was merely fulfilling his duties.

///

“Hey,” Bokuto-san, who decided to visit Keiji while he is in recovery, peeks through the door. “Are you doing better?”

“I am lucky I didn’t get minced into tiny Keiji bits, Bokuto-san,” Keiji’s sense of humour is, maybe, not called for, but he isn’t really in the best of mood either. “Anything that brings you here?”

“Well, you got injured, so I thought I’d just, uh, bring you some books to read?” Bokuto-san scratches at the back of his head. “Konoba said these are really good to read while passing time.”

“Ah,” _who is this Konoha?_ Jealousy spreads throughout his entire body. “I’m guessing they’re a good friend of yours?”

“Oh, we passed the Final Selection together, yeah,” Bokuto-san grins his stupid grin. “We kind of became best buds, I guess.”

“Oh,” _‘best buds’, huh, Bokuto-san?_ “What’s it about?”

“I think it’s just a silly folklore he likes. About the _tengu_ or something _,”_ Bokuto-san shrugs. “Do you need anything, Keiji?”

Keiji’s heart melts when Bokuto-san calls him by his given name, and the other man must have realised it too, blushing like mad. 

This is the first time Keiji saw the other man being remotely _shy_.

“I think I’m going to be fine with the book you gave me,” Keiji tries to sound nonchalant about that, when in reality _someone he has feelings for brought him a book so he'd be less bored while confined in the infirmary_. 

“Okay, ‘Kaashi! I hope you make a swift recovery!”

Keiji ignores the fluttering thing his heart does when he caresses the warmth Bokuto-san left on the book.

///

After making a full recovery, Keiji sets off to another mission with Bokuto-san. It’s become familiar by now. He’s thankful they’re sending him out on missions with Bokuto-san now, because he gets to see that confident smile all the time.

  
  
  


Keiji can’t believe that there’s only one room left in the inn at the mouth of the mountain. He kept asking the nice old lady who runs the place for a storage shed he could sleep in, but the lady said no.

“Guess we’re sharing the room, huh, ‘Kaashi?” Bokuto-san doesn’t sound bothered by it.

“Guess so, Bokuto-san,” _holy shitballs, how do I keep my calm when I’ll be sleeping next to Bokuto-san?_ “Do we at least have two sets of futons…?”

They do, much to Keiji’s relief. If he had to sleep under the same blankets as Bokuto-san… he doesn’t trust his own self-control.

  
  


Keiji takes his sweet time in the bath, taking it after Bokuto-san has. He wants to, ahem, relieve himself in the bath, but he doesn’t want to risk anyone in the inn hearing him, so he skips that for now.

When he walks into the room he’s sharing with Bokuto-san, he almost gapes at his fellow Slayer for being in such a _… state._

“S’wrong, ‘Kaashi?” Bokoto-san seems to be oblivious to the part of Keiji that just wants to jump the man who has his _very_ toned torso bared. “We’re two men, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, I guess I wasn’t really expecting you to get _this_ much comfortable,” Keiji regains his speaking abilities. 

“Oh shit, sorry!” Bokuto-san’s eyes widen. “Didn’t realise you might be uncomfortable with the state of my undress—”

“No, it’s fine,” Keiji cuts off the other. “Next time, give me a little heads up, yeah?”

///

It’s late at night and Keiji still can’t sleep. He blames it on the fact that he’s lying _right next to Bokuto-san_. He’s high on alert and he can’t sleep when the man he’s in love with—

_Wait, am I_ in love _with Bokuto-san? I thought it was just a simple crush?_ Keiji gasps aloud.

“… are you still awake, ‘Kaashi?”

“…” _Please go back to calling me Keiji like that one time_.

“I’m pretty sure I just heard you…” Bokuto-san mutters, and the short distance between can’t be hated by Keiji any more than he does right now.

Before he could help himself, Keiji rolls over and on top of the other man, gazing down at the amber-eyed man.

… who look at him with so much desire, it scares him.

“I… I’m sorry, Bokuto-san,” Keiji apologises and tries to get off, but Bokuto-san grips onto his wrist.

“Don’t call me that…” the older man sounds so… _defenseless_ . And this is the side of Bokuto-san Keiji isn’t used to. “Are you trying to put distance between us on purpose, _Keiji_?”

That makes Keiji feel in a certain way. 

He may be lying atop someone he loves, but his knees still buckle from the weight of Bokuto-san’s words.

“ _Koutarou_ ,” Keiji whispers before leaning down to press his lips against the other’s.

If Keiji knew how it felt like fireworks exploding to fill up the sky, _that_ ’s how it feels like to kiss a certain Bokuto Koutarou. He moans into the kiss and just clutches onto the other’s shoulders as he kisses the other just as passionately he’s being kissed.

He’s kissed before. He’s kissed a girl from his village before. 

How she kissed him feels doesn’t anything close to how _Koutarou_ is kissing him. It feels like a wild, unrestrained animal is trying to go at him, and he is _letting him_. 

During their kiss, Keiji finds himself being rolled onto his back, with Koutarou’s strong thighs straddling either side of his waist. He moans when he feels his yukata being untied, until his hard-on is bare to Koutarou’s touch. 

It feels odd, to have another person touching his cock, but at the same time, it feels so much better than his own hand. He tilts his head back as Koutarou continues to jerk him off, his eyes fluttering close.

“That’s it, Keiji,” Koutarou growls. “Feel how good I’m making you…”

“Koutarou, I’m gonna—”

Keiji isn’t able to stifle the little sound that comes out of his lips when he comes, and he feels his cock twitching when he sees Koutarou licking _his_ release clean from his hand.

_That’s gotta be the sexiest thing I’ll ever see before I die_ , Keiji muses to himself.

“Koutarou… you’re still hard,” Keiji tries his best at purring his words out. “Do you want me to help you out?”

“Help me… are you comfortable with that?” Koutarou sounds surprised.

“You just wanked me off, Koutarou, I just simply want to… return the favour,” he replies, flipping them over in a second.

Untying the other’s yukata isn’t a hard feat, but getting started with what he _meant_ when he said ‘return the favour’ is. After taking a deep breath, Keiji cups the base of the other’s cock, and then he laps at the leaking slit. He’s proud of the surprised little gasp the other lets out, giving the other’s cock-tip more tentative licks before wrapping his lips around the tip. He then bobs his head down until Koutarou’s cock-tip hits the back of his throat.

“Fuck, Keiji, you can’t do this to me,” the other man sounds _wrecked_ , something he likes hearing. 

Before he pulls off just to utter a few teasing words, Koutarou starts to thrust his hips up.

“Fuck, sorry, that just felt—”

Keiji tries to convey that he’s okay with that by looking up at the other man—his lover?—and nodding the best he can with a cock down his throat. Koutarou seems to get the point, resuming his thrusts. He’s fucking hot, that’s one thing Keiji can say, to have someone he has feelings for to fuck his throat like this. He accidentally swallows around the tip when it hits the back of his throat too hard, which garners a nice throaty groan from his lover.

“Fuck, I’m gonna—”

Koutarou doesn’t manage to pull out just in time, half the release landing inside and around Keiji’s mouth. He doesn’t mind it, but Koutarou certainly does, rushing to the bathroom after pulling on his yukata all proper to fetch some wet cloths.

///

When Keiji wakes up next morning, he’s sure he dreamt it. 

So, to say that he’s surprised to find a bare-torso _Koutarou_ lying _under him_ is an understatement.

He scrambles away from the older man and makes a soft yelping noise.

Which wakes Bokuto-san up.

“I’m so sorry!” Keiji apologises, covering himself up with the blanket.

“Why are you sorry?” Bokuto-san sounds confused. “We… do you think what we did last night was a mistake?”

“No! That’s not what I mean!” Keiji squeals. “Bokuto-san—”

“I told you not to call me that, I’m pretty sure,” Bokuto-san— _Koutarou_ —frowns.

“It’s a habit,” he excuses himself. “I just got used to calling you formally.”

“Is that so, Keiji?”

The way Koutarou’s eyes shine in the morning sun is so ethereal, it’s nearly enough to make Keiji forget how to do something so simple and _granted_ like _breathing_. He gulps and watches the silver of Koutarou’s hair take a lighter tone.

It’s ethereal, a view he wants to remember forever.

///

Their mission to terminate the oni does _not_ go smoothly this time.

It was the Lower Moon Five.

He found out later that the oni who was ‘in charge’ of the mountain was actually a fucking Lower Moon Five, preying on the humans who dared to enter his domain.

He heard that the Water Hashira killed the Lower Moon Five, but someone else actually kept the oni at bay for a while.

Currently being treated at the Butterfly Mansion, after a harsh battle against an endless swarm of spider oni, Keiji’s bed is right next to Koutarou’s.

“I see you kept the book I gave you,” Koutarou gets out of his bed to ‘visit’ him.

“Koutarou,” Keiji giggles. “Maybe I do want to read about the _tengu_.”

“They are interesting creatures,” Koutarou muses. 

///

A few weeks pass by and both Keiji and Koutarou are fully healed. 

They hang out a lot during their stay in the Butterfly Mansion.

Keiji learns that Koutarou’s favourite colour is blue, blue like the skies. He tells the other his is gold, but he doesn’t tell that shade is after Koutarou’s eyes.

During the night, they sit out in the gazebo to watch look out into the night sky and just stargaze.

When they have to leave, they’re told they are, yet again, grouped together for the next mission. Keiji is glad, glad that he gets to stick together with the man he loves longer than he expected before his inevitable death by an oni.

///

They set off to their next destination, and as they do, they have to camp out in the forest. Keiji helps the other man set up their post, and after that, he’s surprised by a passionate kiss Koutarou initiates.

“Um, Koutarou?” Keiji asks against the other’s lips, kind of confused by the sudden kiss.

“Sorry, I just wanted to kiss you, I guess,” Koutarou scratches at the back of his head with a sheepish grin. “I mean, don’t _you_ want to kiss _me_?”

Keiji answers with a passionate kiss of his own, throwing his arms around the slightly taller man’s neck. He kisses the other until he gets _excited_.

“Do you… wish to do it?” Koutarou asks as they start grinding their hips together.

“Do you not?” Keiji asks, feeling more confident than usual. “I’ve been in love with you for quite some time, I think I’m very—”

Keiji pulls away when he realises what he just told the other man. He can feel the blush setting in deep, and when Koutarou caresses his cheeks and tilts his head up, all he can see is the golden shade he fell in love with.

“It’s okay, Keiji,” Koutarou promises. “I’m in love with you too. Why else would I kiss you?”

“You don’t kiss those you don’t love?” Keiji asks, words coming out as breathless.

“I don’t kiss those who aren’t you.”

Slowly, they sink down onto the ground and lay out a haori on the forest floor so there’s something they can rest their bodies on. Keiji finds his back on the very haori as they continue to kiss, slowly undressing each other. When Koutarou prods his fingers against his lips, he starts rolling his tongue between each digit until the other man deems them wet enough.

The initial stretch is uncomfortable, but when his lover’s fingertips reach a part of him that makes his body jolt from pleasure, all the discomfort dissolves away. Koutarou keeps pressing his fingertips into the very spot until the pleasure explodes into an intense climax.

“Well,” Koutarou seems smug. “I think that worked better than I assumed.”

“Koutarou…” Keiji gasps, still calming down from his high. “I need more. I want us to be one.”

Koutarou blinks a few times before lining himself up at Keiji’s hole and presses just the cockhead in.

“Are you sure?” Koutarou asks one last time.

“I’ve never been surer,” Keiji replies, pulling the other’s head down for a kiss.

This kind of stretch is more uncomfortable than the one by his lover’s fingers. He almost _hurts_ , but when Koutarou’s cock-tip hits that spot inside him again, he forgets about the pain from the pleasure he’s receiving. After a few jerky thrusts, his lover keeps thrusting into the same spot and before long, they find bliss at the same time.

  
  


///

  
  


Keiji wakes up next morning with a sore back, but when he sees Koutarou sleeping soundly next to him, he thinks it’s worth it. Of course, it was stupid of them to not have kept a watch during the entirety of the night, but they were quite… knackered.

Regardless of that, they didn’t get eaten overnight, so Keiji assumes everything’s good.

  
  


Except it isn’t.

The area around where they set the post and slept, it’s strewn with bodies of dead humans.

“Keiji, why are you—oh gods,” Koutarou sounds as appalled as him.

It’s clear what the message is here.

_I know you’re here, Slayers, and I am waiting for you_.

///

Next night, both Keiji and Koutarou stay awake. They don’t do anything to tire themselves out during the day.

When the moon rises, that’s when Keiji hears something rustling in the bushes.

“Koutarou,” he warns his lover as the rustling gets louder. 

The rustling turns out to be a little rabbit, making Keiji sigh in relief.

“Well, that was not the jump-scare I needed tonight,” Koutarou laughs.

“Koutarou,” Keiji tries to scold the other man when _something_ in the air shifts.

Everything grows quiet, even the owls that were hooting about a second ago are now silent. Keiji unsheathes his blade around the same time as his lover does, and when the demon makes himself known, Keiji’s mind is full of reckless rage.

It’s the face of the oni who killed his family.

It’s been many years, but Keiji hasn’t forgotten the face of the source of his sorrow and misery until he found solace in Koutarou.

“Keiji!” Koutarou tries to call him back, but Keiji’s already leaping at the oni, trying for the third form of the Breath of Water technique. 

The oni dodges with an ear-splitting cackle.

“Aw, I wonder why you’re so mad at me?” the oni jeers, as though she knows exactly why Keiji is mad at her.

“Shut it!” Keiji tries for a different form this time, and the oni dodges him once more.

“Did you grow stronger since that night, human?” the oni is toying with him, he can tell. “Or is that sword just a toy that’s useless?”

The oni gasps from surprise when Keiji manges to slice the lapels of her kimono off a bit.

“You’ve gotten stronger, alright,” she laughs maniacally. “But not strong enough to be my match!”

Keiji dodges just in time so Koutarou wouldn’t hit him with the blade.

“You think we’re toys, don’t you?” Koutarou glares at the oni.

“All men are useless to me,” she cackles again. “Is it just you two this time? Last time, they sent four Slayers…”

“Maybe we’re stronger than those four who were here,” Keiji calms himself down, letting go of the reckless thoughts. 

He goes for the tenth form just as the oni lunges at him, talons first. He doesn’t get to dodge him time, but someone pushes him back.

“Koutarou?”

There’s blood, but Koutarou doesn’t seem fazed by the blood. 

_His_ blood _._

“I’m okay, Keiji,” Koutarou huffs. “It’s just a scratch.”

Fuelled by rage that his mistake almost cost the life of his lover, Keiji manages to behead the demon, and avenges the death of his family.

And then everything turns black.

///

Keiji got told that he was exhausting his body too much, he collapsed. He got transported back to the Butterfly Mansion and he’s been recovering for a week now.

  
  


He thinks a week of doing nothing is overdoing it, but he knows better than to go against the orders.

“Keiji!” 

His sole comfort these days have been his lover’s visits, and today might be the last day he stays bedridden. He smiles at Koutarou and looks at the book he brought today.

“I think the folktales are very interesting, okay?” Koutarou pardons himself. “How’s your healing?”

“I was told I’m in the clear so I can go back to my Slayer’s duties by tomorrow,” Keiji replies. “Is your arm okay?”

“I told you back then!” Koutarou grins. “It was just a scratch.”

_A scratch that left you a scar_ , Keiji knows this.

“Well—”

“So, _this_ is Akaashi Keiji,” comes a voice that is unfamiliar to Keiji.

The newcomer has messy dirty blond hair. 

“Konoha!”

_Ah,_ Keiji muses. _So,_ this _is Konoha_.

Konoha-san is a handsome man, Keiji won’t lie. Anyone would be lucky to have him as their lover, and he finds his old jealousy very well-placed.

“Hi, I’m Konoha Akinori,” Konoha-san greets him. 

“And you already know who I am,” Keiji replies shyly. “What brings you here?”

“Heard Koutarou was in the Mansion, so I thought I’d drop by as I was passing by the area,” Konoha-san explains. “Are you all healed up by now, Keiji?”

“I’m good to go tomorrow,” he replies.

“I’m off tomorrow! Survive until next time we see each other, will you?”

///

Keiji gets grouped together with Koutarou and Aoi—he’s glad the lad is still alive—and a new face he hasn’t seen before. The man introduced himself as Hinata Shoyo, and he has the aura of an exuberant puppy overall.

“You two know each other well?” Hinata asks Keiji and Koutarou, and for a second Keji’s cheeks warm up.

“We’ve been teamed up before, yes,” Keiji decides to take control of this situation. “Are you fairly new, Hinata-kun?”

“Yeah, passed the Final Selection a few weeks back,” the redhead grins brightly. “I’m sad that some people I knew didn’t make it though…”

“The point is,” he tries to sound soft. “You made it, and you can keep doing well for their sake.”

They set off to the lake where their mission takes place. Keiji’s heard that the oni is aquatic once more, which brings him some unpleasant memories.

“We’re a team, never forget that,” Koutarou reminds him. 

///

The battle is not easy.

Currently dodging the needles the oni is firing at him, Keiji is trying to see when he can attack without hurting himself too much. The oni is stronger, stronger than the previous aquatic oni he’s fought alongside Koutarou.

“Fuck!” is the most sensible thing that comes out of his mouth when he dodges yet another onslaught of needles. “Bokuto-san! Aoi-kun! Hinata-kun!”

All four of them are too busy trying to dodge the needles, and they can’t get close to the oni. Keiji finds that to be annoying.

He starts using a form of the Breath of Water to get close, but the damned needles get in the way.

“I just—”

Another onslaught of needles comes in his direction and before he can think, someone throws himself in front of him.

_Koutarou_.

“ _Koutarou_ ,” Keiji forgets that they’re in the middle of a battle and cradles his lover’s head in his arms. “Koutarou!”

“Fuck, that hurts,” Koutarou grins his stupid grin as blood trickles out of the corner of his mouth. “Sorry, Keiji… I just wanted to…”

“Please, save your strength,” he shakes his head. “You aren’t going to…”

There are too many needles impaling Koutarou’s body and Keiji knows better than to think the help is going to be here in time.

“It’s been nice knowing you all proper, Keiji…” Koutarou fumbles for Keiji’s hand and brings it to his lips. “I’m sorry we couldn’t kick the oni’s asses together longer…”

“Stop it!” 

Keiji hears Hinata’s triumphant yell just as the sun peeks above the horizons, and he watches Bokuto Koutarou’s eyes close for one last time.

_I’ll never forget you._

///

Keiji survived the battle against Muzan _somehow_.

As the sun rises, he clutches onto the bloodied haori that once belonged to a man named Bokuto Koutarou.

**Author's Note:**

> The lyrics the title is from is called "Final Goodbye", I think that alone just foreshadows how this would end, hm...


End file.
